Good time to rediscover real Republican Party

My heritage in the Republican Party goes back four generations. I served for 35 years as an elected Republican official. I am proud to be a member of the party of Lincoln.

For 172 years, the Republican Party has stood for individual freedom and responsibility, for free enterprise and individual initiative, for fiscal responsibility, for equal opportunities and rights, for believing that the most effective and responsive government is government closest to the people and for a strong national defense. Since Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, we’ve also stood for protecting the environment, free and fair trade, regulating the excesses of capitalism and welcoming immigrants.

These principles underlie the public leadership provided by most Republican elected officials. To know what a “real” Republican is, one has to understand that political parties are like pyramids. Most Republican officials are at the state and local level — not the national level.

Yet, because of the bizarre presidential campaigns, extreme candidates and their attendant publicity, the public is now viewing the Republican Party through a much different lens. Rather than the party of those admirable principles, they are seeing Republicans as anti-government, anti-free trade, anti-immigrants, anti-freedom of religion and worse.

This situation is the result of considerable angst and anger among certain segments of America.

One is the hard-line conservatives who are frustrated with the congressional Republicans. Since the GOP has majorities in both houses, they are perplexed as to why their favorite policies are not passing. They are also reacting against the rapid social changes in our nation.

The other is the large number of people who have negatively experienced the brunt of globalism and technology, e.g. robotics. They have suffered lost jobs, flat or reduced wages and the inability to achieve the American dream. They are angry that government is so unresponsive to their travails.

Given these monumental problems and challenges, one would think that we Republicans would look for leaders in the party who have been successful at taking on such issues and at getting in a position to provide leadership by winning elections.

They are found in our state governments.

I served as a delegate at the 2012 Republican National Convention. I heard presentations by almost every Republican governor. They were remarkable. With a few exceptions, they are pragmatic, forward-looking, compassionate leaders. They talked about governing and problem solving, not shutting down government, building walls, filibustering or deriding ethnic groups. I, who have been around a long time and seen it all, was deeply impressed.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, daughter of immigrants from Mexico, for example, is the first Latina governor in U. S. history. Coming from very humble roots, she has instituted programs to help families receive essential support, educational opportunities and job opportunities. These programs include policies to help people become entrepreneurs and to engender a robust business climate.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Randhawa Haley, daughter of immigrants from India, provided leadership to have the largest infrastructure investments in that state in a generation — without increasing taxes. Under her leadership, joblessness is at record lows. Another major accomplishment for her is landmark education reform.

Republican governors, like those in Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, and New Jersey, have worked successfully in divided government situations to achieve bipartisan success.

These governors based their approaches on Republican principles and lead as commonsense conservatives with civility and bipartisanship.

When I heard them speak, they provided excellent examples of their remarkable policy accomplishments.

How has it worked in terms of winning elections? During the past six years, Republicans have added 11 governors. There are now 31 Republican governors. The GOP has also added 900 seats in state legislatures — including substantial increases in the state of Washington. We’ve also made significant gains in county courthouses in this state and throughout the nation.

When the Republican National Convention meets in July, this longtime Republican elected official calls upon the delegates to look at our party’s success stories and at leaders who fulfill our principles for the Republican nomination — not those who resort to demagoguery, inflammatory rhetoric and negativism.

In these challenging times, America deserves to have the real Republican Party emerge. The proud, principled party of Abraham Lincoln.

This story was originally published March 27, 2016 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Good time to rediscover real Republican Party."